Attention to the element of space in the urban setting illuminates how social inequalities and social difference are reproduced and contested. In this review essay, I draw upon urban social research to demonstrate the relevance and utility of spatial analysis in the city, focusing on the dimensions of race, class, gender, and sexuality. I present a conceptual framework for analyzing the intersection of urban space, social inequality, and social difference: (a) urban space as inscribed by

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... ies and reflective of patterns of social difference and inequality; (b) urban space as a site and object of struggle between social groups; and (c) urban space as a vehicle for social reproduction through the logic of its universe.